Festival Ballet Providence closes its 34th Anniversary season with one of the most revered of all classic ballets SWAN LAKE, Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 12 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC). Tickets are $38-$68 and are available at the PPAC Box Office, online at www.ppacri.org and by phone at 421-ARTS (2787).

The production will be staged by Festival Ballet Providence Artistic Director Mihailo Djuric and ballet masters Cosmin Marculetiu and Victor Plotnikov. The staging of this production is based on the most recognized version of Swan Lake by Marius Peptipa and Lev Ivanov. The magnificent sets and costumes for Swan Lake were originally created for the Royal Ballet of London and are currently on loan from the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre.

Djuric said, “Swan Lake represents the preeminent ballet of the classical repertory. There are some great roles, the most difficult being the lead role of Odette/Odile, which embodies both immense technical challenges and a full range of human emotions – from hope to despair, to terror to tenderness, from melancholy to ecstasy. Productions of Swan Lake are distinguished from each other in part by the ending; in the original, the story ended in tragedy. We created this version to end on a happy note. We are excited to work on this ballet with the Company, and have great faith in their technical and artistic strengths to ensure a successful production. It will be a memorable finale to our 34th season.”

Swan Lake incorporates the centuries-old legend of the Swan Maiden. An evil character turns young women into swans; these women are doomed to swim as Swans by day in a lake made by their tears and can only transform into their human forms at night. The score by Tchaikovsky was originally commissioned in 1875 in Moscow, but the version we know today was not performed until after his death. The ballet premiered in 1877; however, the score and the staging of Swan Lake changed in many ways over the first 20 years. The “standard version” of the ballet was first staged at the Marjinsky Theater in 1895 with Peptipa choreographing Acts I & III and Ivanov choreographing Acts II & IV.

Swan Lake tells the story of young Prince Siegfied, who falls in love with the Swan Queen Odette, a woman transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer. Odette explains to him that she is destined to remain a Swan Maiden until she is rescued by a man’s undying love.

Enthralled by her beauty, Prince Siegfried pledges his eternal love to her. Later, at a party in honor of his 21st birthday, he is tricked by the sorcerer Von Rotbart into declaring his love for Von Rotbart’s daughter Odile. Realizing his unintentional betrayal, Prince Siegfried rushes back to the lake to beg forgiveness from Odette.

Discounted admission is available for groups of 20 or more; for more information and to order, please contact Group Sales Representative Paul Hiatt at 574-3162 and phiatt@ppacri.org.